Russian officers are demanding to be transferred out of Vladimir Putin’s frontline around Pokrovsk in Donetsk region. This comes amid reports of “drunk commanders” on Russia’s war arena in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The signs of ill-discipline and mutiny among Kremlin forces coincide with major Ukrainian strikes on multiple targets deep in Putin’s territory as Russia today marks Orthodox Christmas Eve.
Putin - invisible so far in 2026 - is expected to appear in church for a midnight festive service tonight, but he is reeling from the US arrest of his close ally Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela and major unrest in Iran, a key Moscow collaborator and war-backer.
He has also faced a New Year demand from Donald Trump to stop the killing and a US censure over his "fake" claim to the US president that Ukraine sought to assassinate him in one of his palaces. Russian partisan group ATESH - which supports Ukraine - say Putin’s officers on the Pokrovsk front are pleading to be reposted to the “rear” to avoid death.
The mass dissent is reportedly in the 39th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, a mechanised infantry brigade of the Eastern Military District’s 68th Army Corps.
Putin falsely claimed last month that Pokrovsk was “liberated” but fighting continues in the strategic hub.
“The command is keeping [officers] in check with threats of disciplinary penalties, demotions, and complete career blocking,” said ATESH.
“Officers are harshly reprimanded for the surrender of positions by their subordinates, are required to report on a ‘stable situation’ that does not actually exist, and are forced to sign documents that are far from reality.
The Russian officers are “completely demotivated, poorly oriented in local conditions, and perceive the Pokrovsk front as a dangerous posting”.
They are "increasingly submitting reports requesting a transfer to the rear or to more peaceful frontline areas".
They are “constantly afraid of strikes by anti-tank missile systems and guerrillas, as well as the fact that local residents have already provided data on their command posts and movements to the Ukrainian Defence Forces”.
This follows reports that the 74th Motor Rifle Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces in occupied Zaporizhzhia region is “suffering catastrophic losses due to commanders who drink alcohol”.
Troops have told ATESH that “orders are given in a state of severe alcohol intoxication, without the slightest understanding of the real situation.
“This has already led to the highest losses in the unit during the entire period of combat operations.
“In the ‘alcohol-battalion’, losses amount to up to 100 people per month killed and wounded - significantly more than in other units - amid incoherent orders from commanders.
“The fate of the battalion depends not on tactics and the enemy, but on how much the commanders have drunk today,” said the ATESH report.
“The Russians bombed American property because the factory belongs to Bunge [Global SA], a company based in St Louis, Missouri,” said mayor Borys Filatov.
Some 300 tonnes of vegetable oil were spilled on the road as a result of the attack, he said.
Russia also struck residential houses in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region.
Orthodox Christmas Eve strikes by Ukraine saw one killed and two injured in Tver after a downed drone hit a residential tower block.
In Lipetsk, the Usman oil facility was hit by explosions and fire after strikes by Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces.
Elsewhere the Penza Bearing Plant, which produced military vehicles, machinery and heavy equipment was hit some 930 miles from Ukraine.
Residents heard around ten “popping sounds” across the city with “bright flashes” in the sky.
Separately, a petrochemicals plant was ablaze in Russia's Sterlitamak, Bashkortostan region, and Leningrad region, near St Petersburg, was also targeted.
